MetaChat - Motorik:

MetaChat is an informal place for MeFites to touch base and post, discuss and chatter about topics that may not belong on MetaFilter. Questions? Check the FAQ. Please note: This is important.

04 September 2007

Motorik: →[More:]

a term coined by music journalists to describe the 4/4 beat often used by some so-called "Krautrock" bands.

Neu!: Hallogallo
Kraftwerk: Ruckzuck
Kraftwerk: Autobahn (single version)

The idea of music simulating the rhythms of machines, instead of traditional melody, also inspired parts of David Bowie's Station To Station.

Motorik didn't die with the 70s, either...
Stereolab: Harmonium
Primal Scream: Shoot Speed/Kill Light

post by: BoringPostcards at: 06:37 | 10 comments

hell yeah! the ultimate road trip music! (although i'm sure my wife would disagree with me - this stuff drives her nuts.)

it's also worth mentioning that if neu! never recorded "hallogallo", i'm pretty sure that stereolab's "jenny ondioline" would have sounded quite a bit different.

posted by syntax 04 September | 07:27

Very true, syntax! ("Jenny Ondioline" is a masterpiece)

posted by BoringPostcards 04 September | 07:53

Geil!

posted by chillmost 04 September | 09:04

I've always called that a disco beat, although I knew those bands took it from the germans. That beat was also prominent in most 70s and 80s punk, and the first variation described in wiki was used almost exclusively in hardcore. What really sets the hook though is the bassline played over that beat.

posted by mischief 04 September | 09:34

Damn, divshare is dead again. I'll grab the Neu! and Primal Scream tonight. Thanks.

posted by arse_hat 04 September | 10:32

kraftwerk's radio bremen performance from 1971 (part one - part two you'll need something that can open RAR files, like 7-zip) is pretty awesome as well. i think this is the only existing recording of kraftwerk's short-lived trio lineup of florian schneider, michael rother and klaus dinger, between the kraftwerk and kraftwerk 2 albums. that's a shame, really, because this stuff KILLS! totally worth a download if this sort of thing interests you.

posted by syntax 04 September | 11:24

Yeah, I love this stuff. Germans can do no wrong when it comes to music, IMO. I like finding this trait in popular songs, for instance, Born to Run.

posted by Hellbient 04 September | 11:43

wow. i'm not a springsteen fan, but that descending riff followed by that ridiculously drawn-out glissando, suddenly yanked back into the main verse with a ONE-TWO-THREE-FOUR never fails to make the hairs on my arms stand up.

posted by syntax 04 September | 12:30

Holy crap, is that the Electric Company song?

posted by Eideteker 05 September | 18:12

No, silly. It's Newton's Apple.

posted by Eideteker 14 October | 11:15

← AskMeCha || Dude →

HOME || REGISTER || LOGIN